Ombudsman for Children welcomes the Report of the Working Group on the Protection Process

The Ombudsman for Children Office welcomes the publication this week of the Report of the Working Group on the Protection Process.

Established in October 2014 by the Minister for Justice and Equality, Ms Frances Fitzgerald TD, and the Minister of State with special responsibility for New Communities, Culture and Equality, Mr Aodhán Ó Ríordáin TD, the Working Group chaired by Dr Bryan McMahon was requested to consider what actions could be taken:

• To improve existing arrangements in the processing of protection applications;
• To show greater respect for the dignity of persons in the system and improve their quality of life by enhancing support and services currently available.

Responding to the publication of the Report, the Ombudsman for Children, Dr Niall Muldoon, said: “I welcome the publication of the final Report of the Working Group chaired by Dr Bryan McMahon. This Report is the outcome of a rigorous review of the protection process, including the Direct Provision system, in which approximately 1,500 children are currently living.”

“My Office has been concerned for several years that children are spending formative years of their lives in Direct Provision, in circumstances that inhibit their potential to thrive and curtail their full enjoyment of basic rights. This important report by the Working Group addresses itself to a range of significant issues affecting the rights and welfare of children within the protection process, including those living in Direct Provision.”

“The Report merits close attention and my Office will be considering it in detail. At this juncture, I wish to welcome that complaints relating to services provided in the context of Direct Provision were among the issues considered by the Working Group. In particular, I welcome the Working Group’s recommendations that the statutory remit of my Office to investigate complaints should include services provided to residents in Direct Provision accommodation centres and transfer decisions following a breach of the House Rules. I also welcome the Working Group’s recommendation that recourse to my Office and to the Office of the Ombudsman should be available to complainants who are dissatisfied with the final outcome of the RIA complaints procedure.”

Referring to his mandate as Ombudsman for Children, Dr Muldoon noted: “My Office has a unique statutory remit to investigate complaints made by or on behalf of children in relation to the administrative actions of public bodies and to do so in a manner that has regard to the best interests and, where practicable, the wishes of the child or children concerned. Since the Office’s establishment, we have dealt with over 11,000 complaints. I welcome the Working Group’s acknowledgement that my Office is particularly well-placed, therefore, to take a child-friendly approach to addressing complaints by children. Furthermore, I appreciate the Working Group’s recognition of the human resource implications of its recommendations for my Office.”

“As I have highlighted on several occasions, and most recently to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, the long-standing position of my Office is that the current exclusion to the investigatory remit of my Office in relation to the administration of the law regarding asylum and immigration relates only to decisions on status. To date, the Department of Justice and Equality has not shared this understanding.”

“A core principle of children’s rights concerns the right of every child to be treated without discrimination. I believe that every child in Ireland, regardless of their status, should have the same access to the free, independent and impartial complaints mechanism provided by my Office.”

Regarding implementation of the Working Groups’ recommendations, Dr Muldoon said: “I understand that all of the recommendations made by the Working Group were agreed by consensus. Implementation of these recommendations is now a matter for Government. I strongly encourage the Minister for Justice and Equality to proceed without delay with implementing the Working Group’s recommendations in relation to my complaints-handling remit so that children in this system have clear, unambiguous access to my Office.”

• 2 July 2015
• Type: Press Release